


The Jellyfish

by fortunatelylori



Category: Sanditon (2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Porn With Plot, Skinny Dipping, graphic depictions of consensul sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 15:04:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20819309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunatelylori/pseuds/fortunatelylori
Summary: Charlotte and Sidney are honeymooning in Sanditon and escape Tom's latest "grand plan" only to find themselves on ... familiar shores (pun absolutely intended). Copious making out ensues.





	The Jellyfish

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by @and-holly-goes-lightly over on tumblr and since everyone in the tag has written wonderful, period appropiate pieces, I figured it was up to me to lower the tone of the discourse with some smut. And because being naughty is fun (and also because I really need to practice writing smut), I will probably add a few more one shots in the upcoming weeks. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and don't let the word count fool you. This is strictly a Charlotte and Sidney one shot with very little plot. I just can't write short for the life of me.

**The jellyfish**

They made their way down the steep pathway towards the coves. Sidney walked in front, a tight grip on her hand, stopping frequently to make sure her footing was steady. She had braced the treacherous terrain several times over her stay in Sanditon, as he knew well enough. Still she found herself unwilling to admonish his care, not when his arm fitted so well around her waist as they finally found themselves on solid ground, near the foaming shores of the sea.

The waves crashed against the rocks, spluttering water at their feet as they fell into a leisurely pace. His hand felt warm against her skin and she reveled in it, despite not being able to shake the illicit feeling such companiable solitude could still produce in her.

They had been husband and wife for almost a month after all and a married couple could stroll where they pleased without risking censure. There was, of course, the rushed manner in which Sidney had made their departure from his brother’s drawing room. With Sanditon’s future secured, Tom Parker had focused his energies on his new grand project: taking to the air by means of hot balloons.

“The sky shall be filled with them! It is the future, Sidney!” he had said, in his usual amiable and enthusiastic way.

She had come to see that Tom’s schemes were endless and, despite their well-intended purpose, they all ended up taxing Sidney who found himself involved in them despite his inclinations. He had difficulty in refusing his brother, preferring to delay or escape, as they had done now.

Not that she minded. Since they had married, her need to be alone with him had increased in a way that she did not think it possible, exacerbated by spending their honeymoon in Sanditon, at Tom’s insistence. She was fond, of course, of the town and all of Sidney’s relations but it made it more difficult to be on their own given the amount of acquaintances that sent invitations to tea and luncheons and evening parties where everyone’s eye was on them, watching for any and every sign of well-being.

“Charlotte,” her husband said, calling her back from her thoughts. “I’ve been meaning to ask you … Would you mind if my brother, Arthur, were to travel with us to London next week?”

As soon as he spoke the words, he sighed and dropped his head as he always did when he entered a conversation he’d rather not have. “He is adamant that he must get a second opinion on Dr. Fuchs’ diagnosis.”

Charlotte couldn’t suppress a smile. “Are his nerves acting up again?”

Sidney sighed in frustration. “He’s always been like this. Ever since he was a child.”

“He is also very kindhearted and entertaining,” she reminded him. “We certainly shan’t be bored on the long trip to London.”

“Are you certain you wouldn’t mind?” he asked, stopping to get a good look at her. “First Tom talks us into honeymooning in Sanditon, now we have to forfeit our privacy on the way back to London. If you …”

“Indeed I would not mind!” Charlotte insisted, squeezing his hand. “I grew up with 11 siblings. Privacy is a foreign concept to me. Besides I love your brother!”

She was delighted when the concern in his eyes gave way to a much more pleasant mischievous glimmer.

“Love is it? I was unaware that your feelings ran quite so deep, madam.”

“I’m afraid you’ve caught me, sir!” she exclaimed, sighing theatrically. “It was Arthur that held my heart all along. Unfortunately, once I discovered you in a most compromising position on these very shores, honor dictated that I marry you lest I ruin you forever.”

He suppressed a smile and bowed his head in mock gratitude. “I appreciate your sacrifice on behalf of my reputation, Miss Heywood.”

“Mrs. Parker, sir!” she admonished, pinching his arm.

“Ah, yes!” he said, grabbing her waist and pulling her to him. “How beastly of me to forget, Mrs. Parker.”

He was all ease and brilliant smile as his hand wrapped around her waist but then his eyes locked on her, darkening as they had done in the past and the smile slowly faded. Her stomach fluttered in expectation as his fingers moved across her jawline and then over her lips in a light, feathery touch that had her lips tingling painfully.

When his lips finally touched hers, she almost sighed in relief. She grabbed hold of his lapels, trying to steady herself as she opened her mouth against his. He had taught her that, once night, when they were still at Willingden and she had asked him if he had ever kissed a French girl. She had heard it whispered that French girls had a special way of kissing and she had been a little too free with the wine that night, gathering up the courage to ask him. 

He had laughed and then … he had shown her, leaving her as breathless and as dizzy as she was in this very moment. She had never been prone to fainting as other girls seemed to be but she was certain that if she were, her husband’s kissing would do her in.

Her back arched and she stretched her neck, deepening the kiss as his fingers traveled down her spine until his palm pressed against the small of her back, pushing her closer to him. She couldn’t stop a moan for escaping her then, just as his tongue lightly parted her lips and she moved her hips against his groin quite without intention. He must have sensed it, despite her attempt to steady herself because he grunted and pulled away.

Her stomach flinched and her lips felt dry all of a sudden, the absence of his mouth leaving her shivering. Her breaths came in rapid succession and her cheeks were burning red. She bit her lip to stop herself from panting but to no avail.

“Don’t …,” he said, his voice horse. “Don’t bite your lip.” He rested his forehead against hers, his rapid breaths falling over her flushed cheeks, making his reserve even harder to bear. Her whole body ached and her skin was set aflame underneath his hot breath.

It made her unfocused and blurry eyed. No longer the sensible and clearheaded Charlotte she could depend on. But someone else. Someone who wanted him … Wanted him in that way she had him every night, in the privacy of their chamber.

The thought startled her for a moment. Surely it was wicked to think of such things out in the open. And yet as she looked at him from beneath hooded eyes, she could not see the wrong in it. Her breath caught in her throat at the redness of his lips. She had made them so, she realized, and the tightness in his jawline was there for her as well.

He wanted it too. Not that he would ever suggest it, of course. Since they had been married, he had been nothing but patient and gentle with her in the very way she had always hoped her husband would be. But how could she have known what to hope for before being married? She hardly had the vocabulary to express it now and none of the courage to use it.

But there was one thing … One memory that she could cling to. One moment she had revisited again and again. It had caused her shame in the past. It had been a thing to chase away even though she never quite managed it despite her utter frustration with him and with herself.

It had become a precious thing, though, since they had been married. The start of whatever it was that had her clinging to his lapels like a castaway at sea.

“Do you …,” she whispered, her voice cracking and her heart pounding in her ears. “Do you ever think about the last time we were here?”

“You mean the time you told me I was the last man in the world you wanted to see unclothed?” he said, grinning. “No, not at all.”

“That is not what I meant and you know it full well!”

“You mean to say I was correct in thinking you had every intention of ambushing me?”

She shook her head and tightened her grip on his lapels. “You are quite impossible, Mr. Parker! And here I was ready to tell you my biggest secret …”

She stepped away from his arms then, emboldened by her newly formed plan but on unsteady legs, as if fallen prey to drink. She turned towards the sea, taking her hat off and letting the breeze muss her hair. The sun was almost setting in the distance and the air was still warm and comforting. She let the hat slip from her fingers

“A secret?” he asked, coming closer to her. “You’re already keeping secrets from me?”

She nodded slowly as she watched him from beneath her eyelashes and she began taking off her spencer. “I’m afraid you’ve left me no choice,” she said, dropping the coat to the ground.

He paused for a moment and frowned, more intrigued than amused and Charlotte’s heartbeat raced with excitement.

“Come now. A wife should not have secrets from her husband,” he said, taking another step towards her and leaning to grab her.

She slipped through his fingers and ran straight into the water. The cold sharpness of it hit against the skin of her calves and soon engulfed her to her waist, making her yelp. The waves leaped and crashed all around her, covering her in water sprays and when she looked back, she found Sidney still on the shore, a perplexed look on his face.

“Charlotte, you’re going to catch a cold.”

She lifted her chin defiantly and did not move. “Come and keep me warm then.”

Her hands worked quickly, albeit shakily, on the laces of her dress. “I don’t know if you realize but it’s been almost a week since my last sea bathing session.” She lifted her half wet dress over her head and flung it in the air. She was mightily pleased with herself when it landed at Sidney’s feet. “What would your brother think of such negligence?”

Her stays and stockings followed quickly, flying in all directions, until she was left in nothing but her chemise and petticoat. When she was done, she dared another look at her husband and found him standing stiff and stern, his eyes affixed on her.

This gave her pause and her stomach twisted painfully. Had she made a mistake? Would he think badly of her?

Finally, he released a shaking breath. “Charlotte … what are you …?”

“I want you,” she blurted out, far less seductively than she would have wished. She straightened her back and bit her lip before trying again. “I … I want …”

She needn’t have bothered. Just as soon as she had begun to speak, Sidney has already crossed the distance between them and his kiss cut off any other words she might have been able to utter.

“I told you not to bite your lip!” he said, his fingers tangled in her hair. He pulled her head back and started dropping rushed kisses down the length of her neck. “Don’t you ever do what you’re told?” he mumbled against her skin.

“Not a chance, Mr. Parker!”

Her laugh was extinguished under a bruising kiss that left her quivering. Gone was the restraint he had displayed only moments earlier. His mouth moved to purpose, his teeth grazing her lips. His hands moved down her body to her waist where they began tugging at her chemise. In a moment, the thin material had been unbuttoned and tossed. Where she did not know.

She lost track of herself and of shame at being exposed, as the cold breeze pricked at her skin, only for his roaming hands to set it aflame again. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she sighed against his open mouth as she set to the task of returning his kiss with as much passion as she could muster. She delighted in the taste of black cherries on his tongue and the smell of smoke on his skin, the roughness of his beard against her sensitive skin. The flurry of sensations left her in such a state that she clung to him desperately, swaying her hips under his hands, her chest heaving against his own.

He felt coarse against her exposed skin, unnatural and not at all as comforting as she remembered his body to be. In confusion at first, she broke the kiss and leaned back, only to begin to laugh when realization settled in.

“Sidney!” she said, pushing gently at his shoulder as he tried to kiss her again. “I fear you’re somewhat overdressed for the occasion.”

It took a moment for him to grasp her meaning. When he looked down at the sorry state of his coat, vest and shirt, he could not help but break out in a laugh as well. “I have completely lost my senses!”

And yet he made no effort to remedy his situation. Instead he looked at her for a long while, making her stomach flutter again when his finger lightly traced the contour of her lips. “You will be the death of me, Charlotte Parker,” he said, cupping her face gently.

She leaned into the touch, her lips lightly kissing the inside of his palm. “Do you need any help?” she asked softly. She had not yet heard a reply when her hands were already on the buttons of his vest, finding the prospect of undressing him strangely exciting.

Unfortunately, her husband had other ideas and he stilled her roaming hands. “I better do it.” He brought her fingers to his mouth and kissed them before adding: “Otherwise, we might be here all night.”

“Would that be so terrible?” she said, pouting as he turned around and walked out of the water, his trousers plastered to his legs and his boots squishing when he moved. 

He sat on one of the larger rocks near the shore and began pulling on the boots. It proved a more arduous task than expected. “Ah! I see. You were planning on swimming to France, were you?”

Charlotte shrugged, her eyes never straying from the sight of her husband undressing. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never been to France. Would it suit me, do you think?”

He shook his head as he removed his vest and shirt. “No. Puerto Rico would suit you better.”

She had meant to ask why Puerto Rico but as he began unbuttoning his trousers, Charlotte found herself quite out of breath. Transfixed she watched the trail of black hair on his stomach inching lower and lower until …

“There is a beach there,” he said, forcing her attention back towards his face.

His look of amusement made her cheeks burn red as she realized he knew exactly what she had been doing.

“At night, thousands of jellyfish make their way to the shore and they light up the sea bright as the stars in the sky,” he continued. “The locals say it is the mermaids visiting.”

The last rays of the sun were spent as he made his way back to her. The water glimmered on his skin and she could not help but admire the shape of his broad shoulders, the tautness of his stomach, the strong form of his legs. She wondered at the poets for considering beauty the province of women alone. She found it hard to believe there was something in the world quite as beautiful as her husband.

Her cheeks still burned red as her eyes followed the path starting on his chest and past his stomach but she did not avert her eyes this time and instead lingered on that part of him that would soon connect them in the most intimate way two people could be connected. It stood erect and ready and between her legs a dull ache began spreading in recognition. Her eyes traveled back to his, her mouth slightly parted as goose bumps formed across her skin.

“With your petticoat floating around your waist like that,” he said, the faintest of smiles on his face, “you look like one.”

She did not know if she should be offended or not. “A glowing jellyfish?” In truth she had no idea what a jellyfish looked like or how it went about glowing.

“A mermaid,” he clarified. “And as you see, I am powerless to refuse your call.”

With that he dived into the water, disappearing beneath the foaming sea. For a long moment she was completely alone, with only the leaping waves and the growing darkness of the evening sky for company. She watched for him in the water but could see nothing beneath the surface.

Just as she was getting ready to call to him, he emerged in front of her, water dripping over his head and chest. “I think you are the mermaid, not me,” she said. “Or rather the … merman?”

He shook his head as he pulled her to him. “No, that doesn’t suit.”

“I agree,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Better to be a glowing jellyfish.” She inched closer, lifting her legs until she was wrapped snuggly around his waist. Her white petticoat floated about them, leaving a stark trail on the blackened sea.

“See?” she whispered. “This way we can be a jellyfish together.”

“Not yet,” he says, his lips moving above her own. “But soon.”

The promise lingered in their kiss. Soft and tender at first and achingly slow. She took her time tasting the salt on his lips, his essence mingled with the sea. Intoxicating and overpowering, her tongue searched for its mate, trapped in a dance that soon turned feverish and wanton. Her fingers tugged at his hair and neck, unable to keep still, tracing circles on his back.

Beneath the waves his hands moved from the small of her back to her buttocks. He squeezed the flesh, making her hips buck and sway, her thighs rubbing against the hard part of him that was so tantalizingly close and yet just out of reach. The contact sent a sharp jolt through her center, making her quiver. She moved her hips again, trying to relieve the pressure but the object of her need eluded her as aching flesh was replaced by water.

She moaned in frustration and tightened her legs around him, her hips bucking against him, without sense or propriety.

“Christ, Charlotte,” he grunted against her open mouth as his hands stilled her hips. “If you go on like that, we’ll be finished before we even get started.”

“No … Don’t stop,” she said, shaking her head and kissing him. Her hips tried to move against his hands but he was too strong. The want made the words barely register and she was beyond feeling shame at her urgency. “Please, Sidney. I need you. Now!”

He grinned at her most infuriatingly and began moving his hands down her legs so slowly and lightly she could hardly feel them. “I think this is the perfect time to teach you the value of restraint, Mrs. Parker.”

“This is absolutely the worst time for it,” Charlotte whined, beginning to rock her hips against the length of him that she had miraculously managed to locate. It only lasted a delicious moment before he pulled away, untangling himself from her hold.

“Sidney! Why must you be so … so confounding! Did you not say you didn’t want to be here all night?”

Her anger only seemed to amuse him. “That was before I realized I was turning my own wife into a mindless hedonist.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and turned her eyes away from him.

“Don’t pout,” he said, pulling her close again. He turned her face back towards him, tucking a few strands of wet hair behind her ear. “This is better if one takes their time with it.” He lightly kissed her nose, before moving to her eyelids. “Like this.”

His mouth left a trail of kisses on her cheeks, stopping at an earlobe where he managed to make her sigh when he softly sucked on it. “Your skin is so soft,” he said, his mouth pressed to the pressure point on her neck where her pulse beat out of control. “And you taste better than wine.”

Beneath the waves, his hands pulled her legs around him again, his fingers tracing lightly on the inside of her thighs, inching closer and closer to her center so slowly that the ache in her belly built upon itself, becoming almost unbearable.

She let out a deep moan as she tried to do as he bid and remain as still as she could. Soon her legs began to tremble as his tongue licked the length of her jawline while his hands drew circles near her core but never on the spot she so desperately needed him to touch.

“Sidney ….,” she mumbled, dropping her head on his shoulder. “Please …”

“Do you trust me?” His words were hoarse and low, spoken so closely to her ear that they made her shiver.

“Yes,” she said, kissing his neck. “Always!”

She could feel his smile as he dropped a kiss to her ear. “Lean back,” he said, pulling her arms from around his neck.

He put his hand on her chest and gently pushed her into the water. She felt the coolness of the sea on her back, spreading across her shoulders and hair and then it wrapped around her ears, turning the world around to muted distant sounds.

Above her the blackness of the sky was littered with sparkling dots of light and the moon was just peaking in the distance. Suddenly she felt herself adrift, floating in the water or flying in between the stars, she did not quite know.

Sidney’s hands were on her, moving across her chest, making her back arch as they dipped below the waters. His fingers moved slowly across her core, stopping at the spot that made her ache with need. The movement of the waves caused her petticoat to rise over her waist, to cover her chest and stomach.

His mouth replaced his hands and, through the white cotton material, his tongue circled around her nipples. The friction of the material dulled the sensation of his kisses leaving her on the edge of satisfaction. When he finally pushed the damned petticoat down and his lips wrapped around her nipple, sucking at it, a shock of pleasure shot through her, leaving her panting.

She could not see his face or hear him which seemed only to add to the sweet torment, as she became increasingly aware of every flick of his tongue across the expanses of her chest, of his fingers steadily increasing their ministrations between her legs and of her own soundless breaths and moans.

Unable to resist and unwilling to make it stop, Charlotte surrendered to it, closing her eyes and concentrating on the fingers that were now effortlessly pushing into her , making the sea rock around her ears. Sidney was biting at her nipples, kissing the sea water from between her breasts and her fingers aimlessly grasped at his hair, hands stretching across his back and shoulders. “Yes,” she said, over and over again though she could not hear herself. “Yes! That feels so wonderful.”

His fingers suddenly stilled leaving her quivering and her hands found themselves grasping at air. _Don’t stop_ ... she wanted to plead but the words were lost in his kiss, as his body pressed up against her. She wrapped her arms around him, refusing to let go again. She could feel the strain of his muscles, the hot wetness of his skin, as he rubbed against her and she finally opened her eyes.

He was above her, his eyes darkened and his face strained. She could not hear his heavy breathing but it fell hot on her skin. She pulled him down and kissed him. He stirred in her arms and she could feel him hard between her legs. She pulled her legs up to give him better access and he entered her slowly, stretching out the delight of the invasion past Charlotte’s point of sanity. When he lifted her buttocks to enter her fully, her head rose above the water just long enough to hear herself scream with pleasure.

As he began to move inside of her, it seemed as if the sea itself was coming alive with their coupling. It pushed and pulled at them, to the rhythm of their hips, making Charlotte bob up and beneath the surface of the water. Up long enough to hear the frantic breaths of their love making, to hear her own sounds of pleasure and Sidney’s broken curses and below to be engulfed by the stirring of the sea and the feeling of him pushing deeper and deeper into her.

“Come for me,” he said, pulling her out of the water and pressing her to his chest.

She whimpered in response, unable to form words anymore and her nails dug into his shoulders, as she moved frantically up and down the length of him.

His fingers reached in between their quivering bodies and he touched her on that place that seemed to emanate all of her need, turning her limbs as fluid and unsteady as the sea itself.

The need built in her belly, rising through her entire body, threatening to overcome her and she gripped him tightly, holding on as she rode the wave of pleasure that washed over her from the relentless quivering of her core. Her hips bucked wildly and uncontrollably and the whole world seemed to explode into a thousand specks of light. 

Through the fog of her own undoing, she heard Sidney grunt loudly and felt his body trembling beneath her fingers as his movements became erratic and then slower and slower until they were both finally spent and still.

Long after their decent from the peak, they remained tangled in each other’s arms, Charlotte’s head resting on Sidney’s shoulder, his forehead pressed against her hair. They did not speak for a long time. But finally words crept back into their little universe and Charlotte broke the silence.

“Should I tell you my secret now?” she murmured, dreamily.

Instead of an answer, Sidney kissed her hair softly, his hands caressing her back.

“When I chanced upon you, emerging naked from the sea … That was the moment I fell in love with you.”

In the wake of their lovemaking, the waves had mellowed, lapping gently at the two bodies. They drifted aimlessly at sea, the white petticoat surrounding them, glowing in the moonlight.


End file.
